Tag: Country Night Lights

It’s hard to believe we are starting week six of the fall semester already. Don’t remember much about this weekend? Get caught up on what you missed in case it was a little fuzzy.

PG weekend in Athens

The bricks played host to the parents in Athens this weekend, leaving leaving many parents with grinning faces, a hefty hangover and a better understanding of our hOUme.

Parents weekend is a change of pace in Athens. Students take their foot off the pedal for a few days and coast through a relaxing weekend alongside their loving guardians. Studious bobcats turned to insightful tour guides showing off our picturesque campus.

Some parents may have enjoyed the visit so much they even decided to enroll at Ohio University themselves.

Court Street was beaming with activity this weekend. Freshly spoiled bobcats giddily walked along the bricks with shopping bags filled with new treasures in hand. The endless growling of stomachs subsided and bobcats everywhere welcomed the rare sensation of being full.

Unfortunately the time for leisure has past. It’s Monday, the parents short lived visit is over (probably in the nick of time, wouldn’t want to do anything too embarrassing for mom). It’s time to return to the class room and hit the books.

Blame Stephen’s for your favorite bar being crowded.

Unfortunately no alcohol will be sold until next Friday at noon. We fought the law and the law won. Pour some out for Stephen's. pic.twitter.com/ghNdaEo8dj

If you made your way uptown this weekend you might have noticed a serious influx of people at your favorite watering whole.

Blame Stephen’s.

After a mix up with the authorities, Stephen’s was giving a citation for a violation of their liquor license the bar was unable to serve alcohol for the weekend.

Stephen’s is a fan favorite among many bobcats. Without being able to serve alcohol the entire bar “food chain” uptown was thrown out of whack.

Long lines outside of the bars were the least of your worries. The massive crowds packed into bars like Courtside Pizza were intimidating. The narrow space between the two halves of Courtside became a major choke point that was impassible at times. Many patrons experienced intense claustrophobia and simply just left.

Don’t fret though, Stephens will be back popping bottle this Friday at noon and the balance will be restored to the force.

Country Night Lights

If your parents didn’t stop by this weekend, you very well could have found yourself at the Country Night Lights music festival Friday and Saturday.

Your #CNL2016 set times are here! Take a look at when your favorite artists are performing ?

We are all familiar with #Fest, the annual music festival that closes out the spring fest season here in Athens. Traditionally #Fest caters to music fans more on the hip-hop and EDM spectrum, giving no love to country music fanatics.

To cure country music fans’ FOMO (fear of missing out), Prime Social Group created Country Night Lights festival last year.

The two day festival featured 13 artists, including headliners Jake Owen and Brett Eldredge.

Chris Lane performed several covers including chart topping hits by The Weekend, Justin Timberlake, NSYC and of course the Backstreet Boys. Frankie Ballard also changed it up. Ballard got in touch with his inner Elvis when he covered “Hound Dog” and “Heart Break Hotel.”

All and all Country Night Lights was a major success and will be circled on the calendar and penciled into the planners of many bobcats next fall semester.

The Browns did what they do best…lose

The Browns really took one on the chin this Sunday against the Miami Dolphins.

Going into the game there was nothing expected of the Browns, but really when is anything expected of the Browns other than another tally in the loss column? However, this week the Browns were starting their fifth starting quarterback in five games, the rookie Cody Kessler.

Too much of the surprise of the Browns faithful, their team had a serious chance to win this week. Thanks a well managed game by the rookie Kessler and a breakout performance by the former Ohio State and NFL quarterback Terrelle Pryor Sr.

Pryor ate. He pulled in eight receptions for for 144 yards, along with four rushes for 21 yard and a rushing touchdown.

For once it wasn’t the Browns defense blowing coverage or giving up loads of costly penalties, and for once it wasn’t the offense puttering along at a snails pace that lost the game for the Browns. No this time it was special teams.

The blame has solely been placed on the shoulders of Cody Parkey, the Browns new kicker.

Many bobcats made the trip up 33 Sunday to Columbus for Kanye West’s stop on his awe inspiring Saint Pablo Tour.

The self proclaimed “voice of our generation,” Kanye West, took to the air Sunday night in the Schottenstein Center in front of a crowd of nearly 20,000.

The Saint Pablo Tour features a suspended stage that hovers above the crowd. The stage moves and tilts to different angels around the area giving each view angle equal face time.

Laser lights display at the Kanye West concert in Columbus (Photo: Eben George)

The tour features no opening act. It was just Kanye and 31 of the most popular hip-hop songs of the last 12 years. Despite being an area show there was a strong sense of intimacy between Kanye and the crowd.

He even had a personal conversation with a girl by the name of Bristol.

The fans were not only there to hear Kanye rap, but also to hear one of his iconic stream-of-consciousness rants. Kanye preached the importance of artistic freedom, a need for self worth, optimism and to never stop dreaming.

Kanye West took Columbus by storm Sunday night during his stop on the Saint Pablo Tour (Photo: Eben George)

Adam Remnant is a local folk artist on tour for his recently released EP, When I Was a Boy. He was the headline act for the show at The Union Bar & Grill. Breakers, and Smizmar shared the stage with Remnant Friday night. The show was an example of not only how good the music in Athens is, but also how there’s no typical “Athens band”.

A photo posted by Ohio University LGBT Center (@oulgbtcenter) on Sep 24, 2016 at 7:10pm PDT

Open Doors, an LGBT student group on campus hosted their first dance of the school year with a stoplight theme dance party. The dress code for the party was simple but interesting. Everyone was to wear stoplight colors but they each meant different things. If you wore green, you were single and ready to mingle for the night while red meant you were off the market or weren’t interested.

Hundreds of people gathered at The Venue of Athens this past weekend to enjoy two booze filled days of country music in their cowboy boots. Two days of up-and-coming musicians entertained this rowdy crowd. The bars weren’t going to pass up on an opportunity to offer a place to pregame before pregaming outside the venue.

We are the perfect place to pre-game before you head out to Country Night Lights. Rumple & country music are a match made in heaven ?

Skeletonwitch returns to Athens and play their show back at The Union Bar & Grill a year after it burned down. The Union was where former OU students began playing before gaining an international following in the metal scene. This show kicked off their five-week Curse of the Dead 2016 U.S. tour.

5. No matter what happened to you this weekend just be glad you didn’t end your weekend this way.

Everyone is told from day one to be very careful around the horse officers. After a night of drinking this man seems to have forgotten the sacred rule in Athens–always ask before petting a horse.

He took it a step further by actually mounting the horse when he saw there was no police around. Though no records have been found as of yet online his friends say he was arrested but is free and will have a trial on Monday.

You can be grateful you woke up this morning with just a simple headache.

If all the moms and dads at Ohio University for Parents Weekend wasn’t enough entertainment, various musicians and other artists came to Athens this past weekend to entertain students, their families and Athens residents alike.

On Thursday night, Daya, a 17-year-old Pittsburgh native who is already succeeding in the pop music scene, sang some covers and a few of her hits in Ohio’s Templeton-Blackburn Alumni Memorial Auditorium. Although her set was shorter than some expected, she didn’t let the crowd down.

Another talent graced the Memorial Auditorium stage the next night, but he was very much a different type of entertainer. Magician Adam Trent dazzled the audience by levitating a table, cracking various jokes and sharing the secrets behind one of his tricks with the audience. He likely unwillingly frazzled himself by offering to meet fans of his act after the show, prompting a large group of audience members to flock to him after the performance.

The Athena Cinema offered students and parents an opportunity to laugh together on Friday and Saturday with screenings of Monty Python and the Holy Grail. The cult classic drew quite an audience to its quote-along film.

Source: Wikimedia Commons

Spanning the days and nights of both Friday and Saturday, this year’s Country Night Lights concert featured country artists such as Jake Owen, Brett Eldredge, Frankie Ballard and Brothers Osborne, among others. In its second year, the festival brought some big names and drew a large crowd.

On Saturday night, Parents Weekend veterans The Second City stopped by Memorial Auditorium to perform “Hits Home.” The comedy troupe, which features alumni such as Tina Fey, Stephen Colbert and Saturday Night Live cast member Cecily Strong, often performs sketches that take jabs at current events and pop culture. The group’s Saturday show did both, garnering laughs from both young and old in the audience.